I think I am liking the Viibryd, even tho I am definitely still in the transition. Pristiq has me in its clutches. When I went off it completely it was too fast and my head was sloshy and dizzy. So now I am back on 25mg Pristiq/10mg Viibryd. (10mg is starter dose) Next I will go to every other day on the Pristiq and see how it goes. What I like already is the extra energy and motivation to do things that is coming on. My previous cocktail had me very flat, neither happy nor sad nor motivated. I know AD's can do that, but I thought it time to try something new and Pdoc suggested Viibryd. I am seldom having nausea, but can tell my appetite is down. I gained a few with my last combo, so I would love to think I could lose some now. We can always hope.

This is exactly what I'm about to ask my doctor for--to switch from Pristiq to Viibryd. Any more feedback on your progress? I've already weaned myself down to 2 Pristiq pills a week, but I'm nervous about stopping it altogether.

This is exactly what I'm about to ask my doctor for--to switch from Pristiq to Viibryd. Any more feedback on your progress? I've already weaned myself down to 2 Pristiq pills a week, but I'm nervous about stopping it altogether.

I started Viibryd 10mg before the pristiq was all gone and took 25mg, then cut that in half for a few days before I went on up to 20mg. It really was not bad changing over, although I went down too fast at first and had to restart Pristiq at a low dose and ride it out longer. Just took a little patience, which is not always my strong point! Now I am on the odd dose of 30mg because 20mg was not enough (I was irritable, negative, unhappy). I went for a month alternating 20mg one day, 40mg the next (pdoc dosing) and when that went ok, my pdoc put me on 30mg. He really didn't want me at 40mg because I am also on Abilify.

I really like Viibryd now that the transition is over and it has had time to work. I feel much more positive, have interest and energy to do things around the house, things like cooking and cleaning that I have not wanted to do in a long time. It is easier to get myself out of the house also.

Maybe your pdoc would let you go ahead and start it with a reduced dose of your pristiq still on board. I know Pristiq says not to cut it, but I did anyway for reducing my dose since so many people on here do it that way and seem to have no problems. That way you will have a smaller dose every day instead of a larger dose every few days. It's something for you to consider. That method certainly worked well for me.

I've only been on effexor for a few days now (similar to pristiq) and I have a trial of viibryd (and extremely scared to start taking it). I have IBS and GERD and a very sensitive stomach. Does anyone out there have IBS and went on viibryd and experienced a lot of diarrhea?

“Sometimes fate is like a small sand-storm that keeps changing directions. You change direction, but the sand-storm chases you. You turn again, but the storm adjusts. Over and over you play this out, like some ominous dance with death just before death. Why? Because this storm isn't something that has nothing to do with you. This storm is you.” ― Haruki Murakami, Kafka on the Shore

I thought I would update my experience because of my odd Viibryd response. I was on alternating days of 20mg and 40mg for a month, then started taking 30mg. It didn't work the same. I felt much better alternating 20 and 40mgs. Then my headaches started returning, that had gone away when I started Abilify. So I went back to 20/40mg dosing and upped Abilify to 10mg (which had made me sleepy before, but not this time.) Now my headaches are gone again, plus I feel more energy again. Of course, I didn't do all this dose tweeking; my pdoc did.

My doc titrated me off Pristiq while titrating me on Viibryd. It worked well for me but then turned awful.For the first month, Viibryd was my miracle drug.... same as the Pristiq was in the beginning.Good lawd, I just realized I talk about my crazy pills like my friends talk about their crazy series of boyfriends...

I've been on Viibryd for about 10 weeks. The side effects are piling up on me and I've got an appointment set up Thursday to kick Viibryd to the curb.

Gastric issues. The Med Wiki saying the effect is like drinking a glass of Tijuana tap water is no exaggeration. I am a mother. I have worked in places with awful smelling trash bins or body odors. I can handle a lot. I can tell you that the stench of my own potty trips made me gag. The stench was so powerfully 'chemical' that my eyes and throat and poor butthole would burn. This is a daily occurrence, often multiple times a day. A half dozen times recently, I've have been relegated to the toilet for excruitiatingly painful 30+ minute spells of diarrhea, the butthole burning types. I was crying as described it to my husband in the only way I know how -- my butthole was having a dry heaving spell at the end of the episode. It's like my GI system contains molten lava now. From an artistic aspect, the palate is amazing. I don't believe I saw this many colors in poo even during my own daughter's childhood. And as an added bonus, sometimes it's been difficult to distinguish between the passing of gas or the needing to poo, and has resulted in the dreaded shart *hangs in head in shame*

General .... weirdness.... in my tummy. Random severe bouts of acid reflux that last a night and don't reappear. (I had GERD years and years ago.) My sodas have started tasting funny... a little more acidic.... (I remember this was a side effect of topomax, which I did NOT do well on).... My stomach feels bloated often, but II'm blowing through everything that enters my tummy! And I know that I AM eating more, because that is often how I would hold off nausea in my lifetime. Eating more and poo'ing it all back out in the most painful manner has contributed to my last 10 lbs of weight gain.

GOOD TO KNOW: Kids chewable Pepto tabs saved me during a two day meeting for work out of town.Intentional constipation was the only viable work around.

Exhaustion. Who hasn't been exhausted? Who isn't tired? I have gone through my "normal" spells. I went through my "I can't get enough of this guy I'm dating" exhaustion spells. I've been through my "something ain't working right, my life is normal and I'm exhausted" spells. What's helped me? 5 Hour Energy drinks. I drink them occasionally and they work. They don’t' even TOUCH the exhaustion I have after 10 weeks on Viibryd. I'm drinking Gatorade daily (The G2... the performance enhancer one... to energize) but really that's because it seems to help me able to have a less volatile poo than to have energy. Does help to stabilize my swimmy head though! Anyhow, nothing is helping the exhaustion I'm having now. Just nothing. Last weekend, the hubby took care of the kids and I was able to get what I needed.... 2 naps that day, at 3 hours a piece, after waking at 9am and going to bed at 10pm. The next day, my energy levels felt right.

I have to go pee all the time.... sometimes. On any given day, you'd think I was dehydrated. Another day, you'd think I was drinking water by the gallons. Both times... same level of liquid intake.

Headaches: more frequent now. All the time. I've got the imitrex I've relied on for years.... and it won't touch these buggers. I have about 4 migraines a year. I haven't had a migraine free day in the past two weeks now. The pain level rolls up and down all day.

Crazy dreams? Yup. Can't remember not having wicked, wild, stressful, intense, unwanted dreams since I started with "The Meds" in 2009. Comes with the territory.

To the person with the IBS question.... just my personal opinion, I'd stay away. Maybe it wouldn't bother your gastric system but it's trying to cause a science-fair blue ribbon project with mine over here.

To those wanting info on the Pritstiq - to - Viibryd switch: it was a cinch for me. I lowered the dose of the Q and upped the doses of the V and all went well. I remember my only question to her was, "Would either of these cause me to have bloody diarrhea occasionally???" and she blamed it on the Pristiq withdrawal. Ummm, kinda doubting that was the case now.

Previous meds.:Protonix (GERD)trazadone - left me groggyWellbutrin - no effectTopomax - allergic reactionChantix - help me not wanna smoke? yes. Plunge me into a major suicidical episode? yes.Abilify - allergic reactionGeodon - extreme allergic reaction, two week recoveryPristiq - went well for more than a year, seemed to fizzle out

I weaned off of 100 mg of Pristiq while starting 20 mg of Viibryd and 75 mg of Wellbutrin.
I then went 50 pristiq and same as above, ok, not great. a tough five days or so of feeling vertigo and just not here.
Then 25 mg of pristiq and 40mg of Viibryd same 75mg of Wellbutrin. I was going through withdrawal after 11 hours or so of taking
the pristiq at 25 mg. I felt fluey, shakey and barfy. It was like I imagine getting off of heroin.
No thanks, lets just get this over with. SO, I went cold turkey of the Pristiq. (with my docs ok) No brain zaps, nothing, apart from 4 days of
feeling vertigo and wooshing in my head. I am now clear of that awful drug and having no issue with Viibryd. I suffer from inflammation
and a very sensitive digestive system which I am always constipated. So the looser bowels are welcome!! I have lost weight but I am
also in recover for food addiction and in Food addicts in recovery.org. So I know that because I am weighing and measuring my food,
its not substantial weight loss from the meds. I am 110 pounds currently. I was really worried about the food cravings coming off trying to replace
the seratonin and I had some bad food days. I was driven by the devil to get the flour and sugar in my body, but it has past....
Now I wait till the flour and sugar withdrawal subside and see how I really feel being off the Pristiq. I am currently puffy and inflamed
but its only been 3 days since I ate sugar. Will keep people posted. So far, so good. OH, and I dont know if Pristiq was the same as cymbalta (which I was on first) but the lower back pain I have from mild, closed spina bifida is brutal. Could be inflammation from the sugar. Time will tell.
DD
I feel optimistic!! I just wish it was not so costly (the Viibryd)

I have tried so many crazy meds. and different cocktails it would be too long of a list to post. However, I stopped Pristiq cold turkey do to extreme rise in BP. Switched to Viibryd within a couple days off Pristiq. Had no major problems doing this. Viibryd did cause some G.I. issues for a few days but nothing serious. Been on Viibryd for 7 weeks. Began with starter kit and titrated up to 40mg daily. Have not seen any major improvements but am going to stick it out for a few more weeks with hope that it just takes a little longer to provide positive results. Hope this helps.

I am considering trying Pristiq because I had success with Effexor in the past for a long time. I went off Effexor looking for something with no sex side effects. Gained 20+ pounds on Lexapro, which dropped off easily when I quit taking it. Tried Luvox, which had worked a little in the past, and had the welcome side effect of controlling my benign essential tremor (hand tremor). Became severely depressed as if I was taking nothing. Pretty much everything I've ever taken has worked for me except the luvox, I just occasionally switch around depending on what side effects I'm getting tired of. Went to Viibryd because of libido issues supposedly being better on it, plus it gets you more serotonin more quickly than anything else and I was way down in the non-functioning place. I took Viibryd for 2 years and it worked quite well, and I had a libido for the first time since college. I had to go on Viibryd VERY slowly because of the side effects--they were extreme. Headaches and sleepiness, but it did work well and now I'm unaware of specific side effects, I just wonder if something else might work better, I wonder if viibryd might make me more anxious, and I hate that if I forget to take it even one night, already the next day I have to force myself out of bed because the half-life seems so short. On effexor, and numerous others i've taken, if I forgot one day, or even 2, it wasn't so bad. 3 days was always the day I started feeling spacey. I'm going through a divorce, so right now having zero libido would be welcome under my circumstances, and I'm thinking of Pristiq instead of Effexor because my pdoc said it also often helps pre-menopausal women with hot flashes.

I'm open to suggestions! Also, I know it may not make sense to switch anything right now, which is what i decided yesterday at the doc office, but then last night forgot my viibryd and woke up feeling awful, which sent me to the computer to spend/waste time comparing various side effects of 5 different anti-depressants.

What did you end up doing- switch to Pristiq or?! I'm going off of 100mg Pristiq and onto Viibryd starting tmr. Worried about the switch but they're titrating me for 2 weeks off of Pristiq while starting me on 5mg Viibryd for the same 2 weeks.

I went from Cymbalta to Zoloft last year and that was awful. They only had me titrated Cymbalta for one week. A month later after being on Zoloft for 3 weeks, crap hit the fan. I can only imagine it was Cymbalta withdraw. I've been on a med roller coaster since ugh! I'm 43 & never had to deal with med roller coasters. I just took one and it worked.

Needless to say, I'm scared about switching but the Pristiq has just never worked for me & the psych has suggested more than once to go to Viibryd. I just want the old me back!

longterm- I tried Pristiq and found it was not effective and with strange side effects- a problem I did not have with effexor. I know this sounds strange, but my pdoc assured me it is not uncommon to have two different reactions to the meds. Even though they are similar, there are some differences chemically and how they are metabolised.

As for the initial question, I am switching over from Pristiq to Viibryd currently. I had 4 days of very bad diarrhea(I have IBS already anyway so it was not fun) and it's settled down, but I'm about to go up to 20(then 40) and am hoping the side effects similarly disappear, but we will see.I hope it's helpful for you. It's supposed to be like an ssri with additional 5ht1a agonist/anxiolytic properties.

I too am going from Pristiq to Viibryd as of yesterday. I'm to take 50mg Pristiq for while starting on 5mg Viibryd (I've been on 100mg Pristiq for 4 months). The psych said to snap my 100's in half yet the pharmavist says that's not recommended- sigh! My psych is also a pharmacist so I do trust him.

Today is day #2 of 50mg Pristiq (down from 100) & 5mg Viibryd. I'm having vertigo, "dizzy eyes" I call it. No swooshing tho like when you miss a dose of an AD. I also had a bout of diarrhea & some uncomfortable gas.

I pray pray pray this transition goes ok bc I'm very anxious of Pristiq withdraw. Normally they only titrate you off old med for 1 week but are doing mine 2 weeks. They also start Viibryd out at 5mg (vs 10) for 2 weeks to avoid/lessen gastro effects.

Glad to see recent posts here. I am now in my fifth month (about to start my third med change) of med change hell. I am now starting the weaning from Pristiq and will be going to Viibryd. It's the last of the three meds that the Genesight test says is supposed to work for me. First I went from my old trusty Lexapro (due to changes in my brain it's not working fully any more) to Cymbalta/duloxetine DR (60 mg/day) and was getting clobbered by somnolence. After three horrid months, I was then switched (hoping for better results) to Pristiq (50 mg/day). After a month of transition and not really knowing how it was doing, Pristiq took its turn clobbering me with somnolence. (If you don't know, it's kinda like the sleepy/drowsy/draggy feeling one gets after taking Benadryl, but worse.) Yesterday my pdoc prescribed Viibryd (I'm waiting for approval from the insurance--it requires prior authorization on my Medicare D plan). I'm a little apprehensive about the Pristiq withdrawal, given that it is "son of Effexor" and when I went off THAT some 12 years ago, I was quite testy, irritable and agitated, biting people's heads off for awhile. Before I even get into Viibryd questions, I want to know what others' experience has been in withdrawal from Pristiq, esp. if you have also taken Effexor in the past. Thanksamundo!

I want to know what others' experience has been in withdrawal from Pristiq...

Beside Wellbutrin, Pristiq was one of the other meds I took for at least 6 months. Pristiq was odd, never felt any good or bad effects from it besides maybe making me a little unmotivated, it was like it was water or something. Regardless, I didn't have any withdraws from it at all and a came completely off of it pretty quickly too.

If you're sensitive to tapering, ask your doctor for a slower taper schedule. That's what I ended up doing. I was on 100mg Pristiq. They lowered me from 100 to 50 & that was unpleasabt with eye swoosh dizziness and flu like body aches. So I did .75 for 2 weeks
.50 for 2 weeks
.25 for 2 weeks
12.5 for 2 weeks.

With that plan, I barely noticed any withdraw- just a bit if dizziness when turning my head but that went away after a week.

I did this all while starting Viibryd. Viibryd seems better than Pristiq. Pristiq did very little for (Cymbalta had worked great for 6yrs but pooed out).

I got to 20mg Viibryd abt 8 weeks ago. Working well BUT, I've had diarrheal since going on 20 so as of last week, I've dropped to 10mg to see if that helps the D & also keeps my mood anxiety & depression at bay.

The transition was pretty easy going but only bc tapered down slower than normal.

Good luck! I know about the med dance and it stinks. Something will work though. Positive thoughts your way!